Jodie Holmes
by drmsqnc
Summary: Looking on from beyond the screen onto someone's life is easy. Too easy, maybe. That's probably why I wasn't prepared. I should have payed more attention to the game... Self insert into Beyond: Two Souls. Told in a series of drabbles.
1. Chapter 1

I wasn't aware of it at first.

It took me six years, _six years_ to realize where I was. Well, technically I wasn't conscious but all the same.

I remember waking up, my mind finally developed enough to handle all the memories of my former self. For six years my mind rejected my prior memories as a survival instinct, shoving them under lock and key so I wouldn't overload my infant brain when I was reborn. Afterwards-

What?

Oh...reborn? Yes, yes, I died. But we'll get to that later.

As I was saying, when my body finally reached to the point where I could process my teenage brain without dying, I woke up. Not to say it didn't hurt like hell though. Susan and Phillip Holmes would never know why their six year old daughter suddenly got such an immense headache she started screaming and thrashing for half an hour. But waking up was a strange experience. I wasn't completely asleep all those years, not _really._ I was just a subliminal presence in the back of her mind, feeling Jodie grow up, learning English, all the basic toddler stuff. I was there for all her baths, there for her school teachings. I just knew I had.

Still, it would be cool if I could remember any of that.

So after the mega migraine, all my memories just, for lack of a better word, _slammed_ into my brain like a freight train of information dripping with ecstasy at being free after all those years. If I had known at the time, I'm sure there would have been a lot more pressure than there had been. Known that at that moment, Jodie was crushed, wiped clean as my memories took over. There was no trace left of the little girl that was supposed to grow up and do all those things, spectacular things. Now it was me.

I remember it felt as if I was emerging from deep waters, echoes of a past life licking at my ears and confusion knocking around my skull. Where was I? Why was everything so big? Who were the two adults with concerned faces leaning over me?

If I told you I didn't freak out when I realized what was going on, I would be worse than a liar. I would be...uh...I...

(...what's worse than a liar?)

Anyway you get my point. It wasn't just the fact that I was in a new body that had me reeling. I _died. I would never see my parents again._ I could never go back there. My life, my crush, my friends, my family, all gone. It's an easy concept to think about but unless you've had someone important die that was close to you, you just wouldn't get it. And in my case it wasn't just one person. It was my entire world. Everything I ever knew ripped apart. My heart was broken, my mind in a constant state of denial. The body's sense of muscle memory made me run to my room, even though I didn't know where that was, and lock myself in for days. I wonder what Jodie's parents must have thought. Looking back on it now, that sudden mood change probably only added to my father's suspicions towards Jodie - me.

The next couple of days were spent contemplating life, literally. The first thing I checked out was my new body. A little girl, paler than I had ever been, with a wide face and scraggly brown locks. Then again who was to say I wasn't just a very feminine boy?

My hand had never gone that quickly down into my pants in my life.

After a successful check at my gender, (what if I had been reborn as a _boy oh my god)_ I tried to get my thoughts under control. After days of mourning my parents and everything I held dear, I forcefully got my head back up to find out where I was.

-( _Who was I trying to fool there was a gap in my heart that could never be filled ever_ again)-

Story cut short, I went outside and basically won an Oscar for the acting I put on trying to figure out what was going on, had I been reborn, who my parents were, what my name even was. I never guessed I was in Beyond Two Souls, and I still wouldn't for another year. I also didn't know what I was going to do with my life.

Ooh, ooh, and guess what was the funniest thing I didn't remember?

 _Aiden._

My life had sucked back the first time but now it like, really, phenomenally sucked.


	2. Chapter 2

My first encounter with Aiden wasn't the best.

I had been in this new world for a week now, trying to accustom myself to the hell I'd been dropped into. Pretending to be six was not easy at all in any sense of the word. I had to be constantly dumbing myself down (apparently Jodie, as I learnt my name was, wasn't too good at english before) and calculating my parent's expressions. If I did something and they acted odd, I knew that it wasn't in Jodie's personality to do so. I had to be constantly molding myself to fit the persona of whoever had inhabited the body before me.

Speaking about that, after I had sorted out my own problems, I came to realize that whoever had had this body...Jodie...was she gone? Did I kill her? Needless to say, I stayed away from that topic and stashed it somewhere in the back of my mind. It made me feel uncomfortable, made the lonely days even more pressured.

Anyway, back to Aiden.

I didn't know he was there.

 _But Haven,_ I'm sure you're saying. _Isn't he connected to you? How couldn't you know was there? Are you that stupid?_

Yes, that's your squeaky voice by the way. That's exactly what you sound like.

But mind you, as one of my favorite authors in my past life once wrote (I seem to have forgotten his name) : "When you are in a strange place, one strange thing does not seem any stranger than the next."

So I was still getting used to my new body that demanded sleep more than my old body did, had small, chubby fingers and couldn't coordinate well at all. I had no idea of the spirit attached to me.

Anyway, back to Aiden.

It was nighttime, and I had just suffered the atrocity of Jodie's mom trying to bathe me. That was where I cut it. Feeding me, bending down to see me, playing with me as if I was some child - which I suppose I was - all these I could take. But my personal body is where I drew the line. I don't care if it was abnormal for me to already want to bathe myself at six. Plus she was _not my mom._ I escaped her hold finally with puppy dog eyes that I found were very effective with my chubby face and big, starry eyes.

One more thing to add to their suspicions about me I guess. But at this point, I don't really care.

So after finding a pair of comfortable shorts and a tanktop (I refuse to wear this bright pink nightdress on the side) I climbed into bed. In the process something was knocked off the sheets onto the floor. Furrowing my eyebrows, I looked over the side to see a pink stuffed bunny resting on the carpet. I blinked, having never noticed this toy before and reaching towards it.

I guess that was the point everything changed.

Then right before my hand touched it, the toy raised into the air and jerked itself away from me. The toy raised into the air and jerked itself away from me. The toy - the toy _raised into the air and-_

My eyes widened and I shuffled back onto the bed. After a while of gawking I crawled back. Cautiously, I reached out my hand again to the toy floating above me but the reaction this time was more aggressive, an invisible force pushing me back and moving the bunny even farther away.

"Who's there?" My voice came out finally, scared, curious and amazed all at the same time. What was going on?!

Suddenly, a wave of emotions rocked my world. I took in a sharp breath, my lungs filling painfully and my chest throbbing.

Anger.

Desperation, confusion, but most of all anger. The malevolence aimed at me was so heavy the air I had taken in was exhaled hotly in a burst, my heart hammering. They weren't my emotions, I knew that. But somehow they were _apart_ of me, something completely foreign yet as natural as blinking.

Something shoved me further back, the intensity growing so thick you could cut it with a knife. I resisted, my bones shaking, teeth grinding into each other. I was overwhelmed, paralyzed and loosing my ability to speak. The sheet underneath me was suddenly moving, causing me to follow its movement and fall off the bed with a thud. I tried to get up but couldn't, my knees shaking and legs suddenly turned to jelly. Some kind of wind whipped across my face, the curtain in the corner ripping in two.

"Who is that?!" I finally found the courage to speak, the sound coming out even more unfamiliar than Jodie's voice I had gotten used to. My throat was clogged, my body still unable to move. The hatred sky rocketed again, the mirror cracking suddenly and pieces of glass flying. I screamed, covering my head and cowering.

"Jodie?!" A faint voice came from outside the door, footsteps pattering and growing close.

"S-show y-yourself!" I yelled over the wind roaring over my ears and around the room; I couldn't think of anything else to say. Irritation mixed in with the rage and the invisible force pushed her again, towards the mirror.I struggled before realizing that words were formed in the cracks of the mirror.

 ** _WhERe IS JoDIe?_**

Jodie's mother was knocking on the door now, her shouts getting louder and more frantic.

"What do you mean-" I started but was thrown to the floor, the force restless again. A marker uncapped from my closet, words in all caps writing out onto the floor.

 ** _GIVE HER BACK. WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH HER?!_**

I gritted my teeth. "I don't know! I-I-"

 ** _YOU KILLED HER!_**

-Crack-

"NO!" I screamed. "I didn't! I don't know how I got here!"

 **LIAR**

I curled into a ball, overwhelmed salty tears slipping down my face and staining my tongue. My voice came out again, quiet and broken as the fact I had been trying to ignore came to surface.

-Crack-

"I didn't..."

 _Did I kill her?_

"I-I.."

 _You killed a little girl. You're despicable!_

 _-Crack-_

I was full out crying now, the knocking on my door now pounding, someone calling to get a key. I knew I should have known who it was but everything was broken, my mind in ruins.

-Cra-

The anger pulsed again and I screamed, answering back with my own emotions. I don't know how I did it, I just somehow _sent_ everything I was feeling to the unknown entity tethered to my brain.

All went silent.

The wall was fully broken down, the cracks that had appeared finally allowing it to collaspe fully my emotions flowing out of the containment of my mind and mixing with his.

( _His? How did I know it was a guy?)_

A key was jiggling in the door now, the handle shaking violently.

The anger staggered as I showed my own feelings, the hurt, the suffocating guilt, the confusion, the fear. I could feel myself being stripped bare and curled in tighter onto myself, hiccuping now in my tears. The frustration stopped completely, a comforting sensation stroking over my skin and soothing my thoughts. I sniffled, half despising myself for being so weak and half relieved that it was over.

 _ **I...I understand now.**_

"Who are you?" I asked again, feeling the same warm presence seep into my bones. " _What_ are you?"

 **...** _ **Aiden.**_

I didn't ask for him to elaborate, nor did I question him about what had happened to me. I just layed there, staring into space. Even as the door almost flew off its hinges flying open and Jodie's mom cradled me. Even as Jodie's father gave me a disgusted look at what my room had been degraded to. My eyes were glazed over and I was entirely focused on Aiden.

 _'Haven,'_ I replied in response to him telling me his name. I swallowed, heart dampening yet safe, more safe than I had ever been.

And I couldn't support it, but somehow I knew the wall that had been broken down would change everything.


	3. Chapter 3

-Omake-

Based on my first encounter with him, I assumed Aiden was a solemn, angry spirit that was somehow linked to me spiritually as well.

I was so wrong. Oh so wrong.

Turns out Aiden was a solemn, angry, irritating, _playful,_ annoying spirit that was somehow linked to me spiritually as well.

(Flashback)

I sighed, letting my small ponytail out and allowing the brown strands to fall around my face. I pulled back the curtain, stepping into the bath and resting my head against the cool tiled wall.

"Way too much smiling today," I muttered, my small hands coming up to lightly massage my cheeks. The fake personality I wore in front of Jodie's parents was starting to wear me out to the point where I would do anything to get some alone time to myself. The thought made me brighten, a genuine smile starting to pull up my lips. Some time to myself. I exhaled and reached out a hand to turn on the shower. Just me and my thoughts-

The shower stopped before it could even start, one single drop of water falling from the head and sliding down my face. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion before they widened and I could feel my entire body go stiff.

"A-Aiden?" I found my arms covering my body, surprise completely overwhelming all my emotions yet embarrassment seeping in. "Is that you?"

Satisfaction weaved through my mind with a hint of smugness that seemed to ring ' _yes'._ I sputtered, not sure how to feel. For one thing, Aiden was a spirit that would most likely be with me until I died in this world, but on the other one he was a _male_ spirit. And I was _naked._ I squealed a bit mentally and felt Aiden's emotions turn from smugness to confusion at my hands shielding my flesh, then irritation. It felt as if he was rolling his eyes at my actions. The pipe turned and the circular water outlet before my feet was plugged, warm water starting to spill out and pool into the tub.

"A bath...?" I mumbled, my hands loosening from my body. Aiden was slipping the fuchsia rag underneath the spray of liquid. I frowned, weighing my options at what was happening. For one, I could scream at him to leave me alone and shower myself.

 _But on the other hand,_ I noticed as I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror outside. _I really have nothing to hide anyway. I'm a little girl at the moment in this body._ I chuckled at the thought and brushed my hands down my chest. _I'm as flat as a board._

The rag suddenly twisted and slapped me on the back, a wet ringing sound echoing through the space.

"Ow!" I cried, turning. The satisfaction increased, as if Aiden was saying "I got your attention now." I puffed out my cheeks, finally letting my arms fall but kept my legs close together.

 _I seem to be getting better at reading his emotions and guessing what he's communicating._

The bath was half full now and I crossed my arms, irritated at him for slapping me and ditching all my thoughts about not creating trouble.

"I want to take a shower," I demanded. The rag froze in mid air as annoyance pinpricked my senses. I smirked at his frustration. "That's right. Who takes a bath anyway?"

I reached out for the rag but it was jerked out of my reach. My eye twitched.

"Aiden," I growled, making a quick grab for it but he easily evaded my attack, his amusement bubbling through the bond.

"Aiden!" I repeated. "I want to take a shower!"

Immediately, the shower head burst and water gushed out at full speed onto my head as I noticed in the split second before it touched me that he had manipulated me to stand underneath it. I squeaked, flailing.

That son of a- it was _FREEZING!_

I squeaked again, shivering and tried to switch it off but it would not budge. I stepped backwards quickly from the ice cold water, my feet slipping on the floor and causing me to lose my balance. The sound of my girlish yell sounded as I slid, falling into a sitting position in the tub. I winced in slight pain, not noticing a force seemed to cushion the impact and scowled.

"Ai-" The shower head only tilted upwards in response to my escape, the water reaching me yet again and hitting my body.

"Okay! Okay!" I shouted, my hands raised in surrender and trying to push the water away from me. "I'll take a damn bath!"

The shower immediately switched off, warm water again filling the tub from the pipe and liquid bubble soap casually pouring into the water. My eye twitched again as an innocent duck toy nudged my foot. I spat a wet strand of hair out my mouth, growling lightly. Aiden sent a wave of comfort my way, the rag shifting over to me as if nothing had happened. I rolled my eyes after ignoring my want to gape in shock and reached for the rag.

Only for it to swish away again as mischief devilishly showed through the bond. My eye twitched for about the third time in five minutes.

 _This is going to be a long bath._


	4. Chapter 4

"Eat your vegetables Jodie," Jodie's mom scolded me, her hand swiftly shifting the carrots on my plate closer to me.

I withheld my urge to roll my eyes. "I lived to a healthy age in my last life without eating that disgusting stuff you're trying to give me. I think I can deal. Please leave me alone in peace for _one_ second."

...What?

Alright of course I didn't actually say that. Out loud at least.

Instead I scrunched up my nose, shaking my head. "I don't want to.."

She gave me a comforting smile, her hand skillfully turning the back of the spoon to shift some towards her . "How about half, hmm? Let's go slow."

I blinked, surprised at the compassion showed my way. I bit my lip.

 _Of course she would show me compassion. I'm her only child._

Part of me felt guilty. The baby Jodie's mom would have wanted, she only got for a couple of years. Now she was replaced by a nearly adult woman that wore her daughter's face. Jodie's mom would never have that little girl again. To play with, dress up in cute bows and have that special mother-daughter relationship. It would all be fake.

( _It's not your_ ** _fault_** )

On the other hand, I had a distaste almost bordering on hatred for these two adult figures. They would never be my real parents. They would _never replace_ my mom, my beautiful, annoying, bossy mom that ordered me around but that I knew loved me so much. And it only took being ripped away from her to notice that. And don't even get me started on my hilarious dad. With his weird anger issues and pleasing cinderwood smell he always seemed to have and his teasing and, a-and...

I cut off the thought before I started crying at the table, feeling my mask almost twitch and show my real emotions. My eyes slid up to Susan's.

 _Even if she'll never be my mom...I suppose I don't have to completely disregard her._

Right as I opened my mouth to answer her a gruff voice came from the other end of the table.

"Don't baby her Susan. Let the bra- kid eat her vegetables," Jodie's dad said, his piercing eyes studying a newspaper in front of him, the edges of the paper dusting inside the plate still filled with food.

I ground my teeth together so suddenly they caught into each other by the grooves painfully. My anger started to build, only edged on by Aiden's oozing malice as well. I dug my nails into the my palms discreetly, the sharp, stinging pain helping me to steer away the fog and think clearly.

"It's bad manners to read at the table," I spoke in that soft voice Jodie had, turning my head towards him. Since I was a kid, it would be excused that I couldn't have possibly ignored his statement on purpose. Since _obviously_ I was just trying to help.

His dark eyes peered over the paper and slid to me, lines of disdain wrinkling at the corner of his eyes. "It's bad manners to speak back to your father."

 _It's bad manners to have a stick stuck so far up your a-_

Aiden's anger spiked suddenly, cutting me off from my thoughts of crushing Phillip's head. My eyes widened as I felt him move from me closer to where Jodie's dad was. It was weird, him moving away. It felt like his soul was attached to mine with some kind of... _gum._ Sticky, gluey gum that had a stable grip onto me. But at the same time the gum could stretch, be flexible and move to places. Aiden, now that I think about it, hadn't gone too far away from me since I'd met him. A few metres and that was it before he was back and shrouding me again.

I wonder...what would it feel like if the gum was stretched too far?

"Aiden, wait!" I whispered underneath my breath. What was he doing? The amount of unfiltered rage I could feel from him was certainly not healthy, and I could tell that Aiden was moving towards Jodie's dad. I started to panic when he didn't listen.

 _Aiden!_

"Phillip!" A voice said firmly, stopping Aiden and causing both of us to blink in surprise. Aiden figuratively of course. Jodie's mom was giving him a disapproving stare.

"There was a better way to say that, I'm sure," She reprimanded lightly, her silk voice somehow holding accusation yet heart warming and _nice_ at the same time. Aiden stopped completely, as if waiting to see what this new development brought.

I was interested myself.

Phillip raised an eyebrow. "What?" His tone was icy cold and he sighed. "Susan, you're babying her. The sooner the kid grows up the sooner she can figure out her problems and ge-"

He seemed to stop there, apparently having enough morals to not continue while I was still sitting there at the table, doe eyes wide in "confusion".

 _And ge_ _t out,_ I finished what he was going to say in my head. I could tell Jodie's dad had had a problem with her even before I surfaced. Such disgust towards a person did not just manifest overnight. And I knew it had everything to do with Aiden.

Susan pressed her lips into a thin line, her hands pushing herself up from the table, the chair scooting backwards with a loud screech. "Come with me for a second, Phillip."

 _We need to talk,_ I heard the unsaid last sentence. He scowled but rose as well. Susan turned to me with a forced yet reassuring smile.

"Jodie honey, me and your daddy are gonna have a little talk. You can leave your plate there, I'll cone back to wash up." She winked towards me, putting up a finger to her lips as if we were sharing a secret then mouthed the words: 'Don't worry about the vegetables'.

Then she turned back around and they both walked out of my sight until I heard the door to their room shut and hushed voices starting to argue.

"Hey Aiden," I spoke out loud, chuckling and jumping down from my chair. "I like her."

Aiden made that combination of irritation and slight amusement that I knew meant he was rolling his eyes.

 _Obviously,_ he seemed to say. _She's your mom._

I puffed my cheeks, picking up my plate and shuffling my tiny feet towards the kitchen. "Yes, I know. But the point still stands."

Aiden's confusion washed over me briefly as I scraped the remains of my food into the garbage, tiptoeing to slide my plate up on the sink. I went back for Jodie's mom's plate and went to the kitchen to do the same thing.

"I know," I said. "She said she'd wash up. But I decided I want to do it. It's not like I have anything else to do anyway." The last part was more for me than Aiden, as if trying to persuade myself that I wasn't warming up to the woman.

A force pushed me a bit only for it to rub up my side in a ticklish way. I forced down a giggle, a little annoyed as I had almost dropped Susan's plate. "No Aiden, I don't need you to give me anything to do. Let me wash the dishes first."

The window above the sink fogged up, a frowny face slowly drawing itself. I rolled my eyes, heading back to the table.

"Baby."

The force slapped my butt, causing me to jump forward and squeak. "Hey!"

Satisfaction coursed over the bond and I huffed. When I reached back to the table I stared at Phillip's plate, contemplating if I should pick it up or not. Aiden seemed to catch my drift, tilting the plate a bit till it was almost falling off the table. Now it would look like a complete accident if it "fell" and splattered food on his newspaper on the chair. The corner of my lip twitched up in an amused smile and mind ran with diabolical thoughts but I slapped myself on the wrist gently to redirect my focus.

"No Aiden," I shook my head, walking over and taking the plate. Sure, it would be funny, but it would kind of destroy the "innocent, good doing" character I was trying to build.

Aiden rolled his eyes again and I rolled them right back, taking the plate to the kitchen and emptying its contents into the garbage. I glanced up at the sink, deflating.

"Curse this body..." I mumbled, reminded yet again of my six year old height. A stool brushed my feet and I muttered a quick thank you into the air before stepping up onto it.

Only for it to slide backwards before my foot touched it.

I squeaked, losing my balance and falling forward. I hit a warm cushion of air, propelling me back.

"Now is not the time, Aiden," I groaned. Why...why he so annoying?

I stepped onto the stool again, making sure it was steady before turning on the pipe and dunking the plates underneath the warm water. I squirted the sponge with dishwashing liquid and rested it to turn off the pipe and grab a plate. My tongue slipped out my mouth to rest on my top lip as I tried to hold the plate with my tiny hands. When I finally manipulated them enough to have a firm grip on the side of the plate, I reached for the sponge.

The sponge slipped out of my grasp in a blur of yellow, dropping into the water still in the sink and causing suds and liquid to splash up into my face and hair.

I stared blankly ahead as white foam dripped off my nose. Aiden was guffawing away, the utter amusement coming from him obvious that he was the one that orchestrated the event which just occurred.

...

If anyone had been around at the moment, they would gasp in shock at the threatening obscenities leaving a little girl's mouth, her hair wet and soapy and a kitchen knife being waved around in her hand.


	5. Chapter 5

-Two months in-

 _I don't know why I'm doing this. In my other life, the mere thought of writing down your thoughts in a book was something I'd scoff at. Yet I find myself, here, writing a journal. (I refuse to call it a diary, as it definitely is not one.) Though I've become accustomed to Aiden, I find that there is no time that I have to myself. I've conveyed my thoughts to him, and though he put up quite the temper tantrum (baby) he finally agreed to let me have this book to myself. He can already read my emotions and thoughts I project toward him, I can only hope he keeps to his promise and is not peeping over my shoulder as I jot these words down. (There was a cold draft away from me after I wrote that, guilty bastard.)_

 _Feeling slightly irritated,_  
 _H.N._

...

The days are getting longer. My little encounters with Aiden are growing more noticeable as the days pass, and I'm getting to the point of frustration that I might not even try to hide that I speak to him anymore. If they believe I'm crazy, let them think that.

Well no, not crazy. 'Cause, get this.

They think I have an imaginary friend.

I'm done. So done. When I found out their thoughts I felt relieved, but at the same time wanted to bang my head on the wall at their stupidity. Imaginary _friend?_

Aiden was amused at least. That means he'll leave me alone for a little while since he's been satisfied with his hourly sadism.

I never go out. I've spent months aimlessly wondering the house, dragging my hands over the walls and tracking my way through. They had quite a big household, I'd have to give them that. Bigger than the house I had in my other lif-

Moving on from that topic, I pretty much knew every inch of Jodie's house by now. After that source of entertainment was gone, I found that I was getting increasingly more agitated. Television could only go so far, and it's not as if I could watch the channels I enjoyed anyway. I don't think I'd like the reaction if Jodie's mother came in to see her six year old daughter watching the Walking Dead, or something as bloody like Game of Thrones. Actually, no, I'd very much enjoy the reaction. I'd probably be laughing my head off.

But I digress.

(Imagined if I watched _anime._ )

Oh gosh I needed to get a phone.

So I had nothing to derive simple entertainment from daily, except Aiden. Who was definitely NOT included. I'd actually be happy if he left me alone for a bit. Just a bit. I had gotten better at accepting there was a soul attached to me every second of the day but I was getting a bit tired of it. Sure it was cool at first, exciting even. Just another strange thing after I had been reborn. This time around I was supernatural it seemed. But it was getting a bit exhausting. I wasn't used to someone just...being there. In the bathroom, in the shower, when I went to sleep, when I awoke. Aiden, having the ability to sense my emotions could see that I was beginning to feel uncomfortable and tried to help (in a way only an annoying yet sometimes comforting spirit can) but only really made it worse. After all it was him I was having problems with.

Which is where the diary came in.

It was a separate thing from Aiden, something I could keep to myself. Also it gave me something to do every day. Obviously, it didn't keep my attention for more than at least an hour a day, but baby steps. It was progress.

Progress.


	6. Chapter 6

-Three months in-

 _Apparently it was summer when I first awoke here. Makes sense. I can't say I wasn't wondering why I didn't go to classes in the week like a normal person. So now that summer's officially over, it's back to school. I'm excited for it - something I never thought I'd ever say. After all, I was almost finished with highschool back in the othe-_

 _Anyway, finally I have something else to do with my day. Joy._

 _Anxious,_  
 _H.N._

...

"Tuck in your blouse, Jodie," Jodie's mom said absentmindedly, reaching for Jodie's coat on the hanger and turning back around.

 _'Why? That would look stupid. What am I, Eddie Murphy?'_ "Okay," I replied softly, smiling and pushing the shirt into my small skirt. She bent, helping me with the edges that I somehow couldn't maneuver with my tiny palms.

"That's, "okay, mom"," She corrected, giving me a serious yet joking order. I blinked owlishly.

 _I will never call you that title. Someone already carries it._

She frowned when I didn't answer and looked up at me. Right when she went to open her mouth, a jingling noise of keys broke our attention and saved me from further questioning.

I turned on the spot, sticking my feet into the baby blue sneakers and making my way towards Jodie's father before Susan could even attempt to comment on my choice of footwear. Phillip was exiting the door, keys dangling from his hand as he shot a glance behind him at me.

"Hurry up," he spoke abruptly. The words held no hate but weren't exactly loving either; they were simply precise, his eyes flicking towards the watch on his hand. I clumsily shuffled over to the step, waving a hand at Susan and stepping out onto the porch just as Phillip closed the door.

"Coming." I readjusted the small backpack on my back after immediately untucking my blouse, letting it cascade gently around my waist. Phillip opened the car with a press of the button and I practically ran to the front seat, excited about finally leaving the house I'd been cooped up in for months. Phillip stopped me with his hand, grabbing my shoulder.

"No," He started, slight annoyance building his tone before he looked down and met my big eyes. He let out a sigh and lowered the authority in his voice. "No kids in the front seat, Jodie. You know that already."

I pouted, watching as he opened the door to the back for me (since I couldn't really reach it) and after a pause, climbed in. He slipped into the driver's seat after going around to the other side and switched on the car with a revving purr. I furrowed my eyebrows, mind whirring.

"The wheel is on the left side...?" I trailed off quietly. His eyes met mine through the head mirror before he glanced away and started reversing out of the drive way.

"Of course it's on the left side," He said blankly, raising an eyebrow a bit. "That's how it's always been. Your head doesn't seem to be in order, today."

I gawked at the comment and was about to protest until I saw the slight lift of his lips. I rolled my eyes, a small smile gracing my face as well. Even if he was an utter jerkhole at times, he was still Jodie's father. He still loved her.

(For now)

"Haha," I said, kicking my feet a bit in the chair. I looked down at my legs, heavily amused by the fact that they couldn't reach the floor of the car.

Kids. They were adorable, and now I was back as one. Unbelievable.

...

The school was huge. Not just to my small stature, but in general as well. Like, huge wasn't even a good enough word. It was _colossal._

Chatter filled the air, shouts from kids running around echoing and the sound of farewells as parents dropped off their children. I stared, my mind buzzing again. The atmosphere was so friendly, so regular...

Yet something felt off.

"Where are we?" I asked, lifting my head up to look at Phillip. Before he could answer I elaborated a bit. "I mean, the establishment. Not in general, as in school."

Phillip's face changed even more and I wanted to facepalm myself when I realized why. I was so ready for the new day and experience I had let my mask slip a bit. Too many big words for a six year old.

"I...I saw that e word in a book!" I started again, letting a toothy smile spread across my face and exclaimed in childish glee. I resumed my quiet nature, shuffling nervously. "I mean...I think I did it good, right?"

Phillip seemed to stabilize after the elaboration, glancing around and reaching a hand down to roughly rest a calloused hand atop my brown locks.

"It's all questions today, isn't it?" He said, his voice rough and unused from such an early start to the day. "You know where we are, Jodie. The base, remember?"

I contorted my features cutely. "Base?" After a moment of thought my eyes widened. Like...like a military base?! The words were almost flying out my mouth before I caught my tiny tongue and contemplated a way to dumb it down.

"Like, for important people?" I stuttered on the word important, rounding my mouth to pronounce it properly and puffing my cheeks. Phillip chuckled a bit before glancing at his watch and gaining back his straight posture.

"Important people..." He mused. "You could say that. It's a school on a military base, yes."

My eyes glanced towards the car park where the van remained. "You work here, too?"

Phillip frowned, his hand dropping from my hair to slightly rest on my forehead. "Yes, but in a different section of the base. And so does your mother. She's just on leave this week- are you sure you're alright? You've been asking the dumbest things since morning."

He shook his head after his eyes glanced towards his watch again, pushing me forward. "Anyway, I'll be here to pick you up after school as always. Right at this spot, since you seem to have formed amnesia today. Go."

With that, he turned and began walking briskly in the other direction. I blinked after him, my mouth curling downwards as Aiden pulled me forward a bit. What, he wasn't even going to bring me to my class?

That man. I'll never understand him. I know he actually has an anger problem, but the bipolar attitude of his was giving me whiplash. One second he was basically disowning me and making Aiden and I want to murder him in his sleep, and the next, he was a decent father - a bit stoic and had dry humor - but decent enough. His distaste for me seemed to switch off and on, and I could no longer predict what his mood would be.

Shaking my head, I cleared my thoughts as I allowed Aiden to guide me to wherever my classroom was. I couldn't fight the smile that clawed its way onto my normally blank face and my steps were noticeably more bouncy. Not that it mattered anyway. There was nothing strange about a giddy child amongst a sea of others.

Aiden stopped leading at one point and I stopped, looking up at an open door.

 _Guess this is my class._

I walked inside, my brown orbs glancing over the different forms of children, some just sitting at the desks while others were running around or chatting to their friends. I smiled a bit at the heart warming scene.

 _Maybe this won't be bad at all,_ I thought.

Stupid, stupid me. Thinking back on it, I might have jinxed myself.

I sat at a random desk, dropping my bag on the back of the chair. As if on cue, the sound of a bell ringing drummed through my ears.

"Hello, everyone," A cheery young man smiled after the room managed to calm down. Soft black hair almost covered his eyes, falling into his face and curling behind his ears. Hint of stubble trailed along his jaw and he scratched said place absentmindedly. He turned to the board, lifting a marker and scribbling something in bright red.

"My name is Mr. Crusaeti," He started. Immediately, confused muttering filled the room and childish voices were heard as they all tried to pronounce his name. Mr. Crusaeti chuckled as if he had been expecting it. "I understand it's a bit hard to say. So to fix that, you all can call me Mr.C." He demonstrated by wiping off the rest of his name till only "Mr.C." was left on the board.

"Mr. Crusaeti..." I muttered, testing it out on my tongue. His eyes flickered over to me, the deep green pools holding surprise.

 _Woops. Guess he heard me._

"That's correct," He smiled, still shocked and I bit my lip. Was it really supposed to be difficult to pronounce? I didn't want to stick out anymore than I needed to. "What's your name, missy?"

"Jodie," I said after a pause, adjusting my mask so that I had a shy but friendly smile. "Jodie Holmes."

"Why, hello, Jodie," He trailed off. "Good to meet you."

I let out a small "you too" in response as he turned back to the rest of the class.

"This is a new grade, and of course most of you probably don't know your classmates in this room. Therefore, let's do a little activity. Starting from the right, please tell us your name, favourite hobby, and dream for the future."

All heads turned to the person on the far right, which was a little redhead. I watched as he introduced himself in slight intrigue before zoning out as the line continued. I yawned, my rollercoaster of emotions coming to an end as my earlier actions of having no sleep the night before caught up to me. I glanced back to the person who was now talking. They were far away from me, considering I was in the right corner in the front. My eyes slipped over to look out the window that was right next to my desk and I observed the swaying trees for a bit before slowly resting my head on my folded arms on the table.

Just...just a little nap...

...

I was awoken by giggles, a hand shaking my shoulder. I blurrily opened my eyes to see that every head was turned to me and children were laughing into their hands. I took a couple seconds to process what was going on before sitting up stiffly. Wha...?

I looked down to the hand that had shook by shoulder and followed it to a tiny blonde girl, her large glasses nearly dropping off her nose.

"It's your turn," She said, not laughing as much as the others but still smiling quite a bit.

My...turn?

Oh.

I smiled nervously, scratching the back of my neck as my eyes met 's. His were disappointed and I sighed grumpily, put into a worse mood when I detected the amusement rolling off Aiden.

 _'Yeah, thanks a lot for waking me up, Aiden,'_ I thought sarcastically, sending my annoyance towards him which only triggered more amusement.

"Sleeping in class, Ms. Holmes?"

I internally rolled my eyes at his words but only found my nervous smile growing.

"Sorry," I said briefly, keeping my voice quiet and steady. My hand brushed my mouth only to find that I had drooled a bit. My hair was probably a mess now, too.

"Jodie Holmes," I said, wiping the corner of my lips of the dried spittle and in general feeling majorly done with everything. "I like to sow. Spacewoman."

I ended it abruptly, feeling a bit embarrassed but at the same time not considering it was a bunch of kids. I really couldn't have cared less. That attractive teacher on the other hand...

...what? Hey he looked to be in his early twenties and I was mentally almost an adult myself. Ish. A teen adult. With hormones.

Wow, I couldn't wait for puberty this time around. Wouldn't _that_ be fun.

Of course the information I just gave to the class was absolute B.S. I hadn't touched a sowing needle in my life, _either_ of my lives, and I had no interest whatsoever in being an astronaut. But the latter was just a big enough dream that it had to belong to a child. Plus, well, what fun was it to go through school again if I couldn't mess around with a few heads?

"Do you mean an astronaut?" He asked. I nodded then leaned my cheek into my hand, eyes drooping. My ears barely acknowledged the last two people who went as my short attention span decided to show itself again.

So far...so far the day had not gone the way I thought it would.

...

The rest of the time at school was spent playing games and coloring, since we were kids, plus it was the first day. I wanted to scrape my nails down my eyes by the time it hit lunch time. I thought my boredom would have decreased...but instead it only became more mind numbing.

At lunch something even worse occurred. As I unwrapped my PB&J that Jodie's mom packed me, the juice on my table tilted, spilling over my hand. I grimaced, getting up to go wash it off. When I turned, I ended up bumping into another body, my hand reflexively grabbing onto the nearest thing to steady myself. My slippery palm ended up holding onto this blue eyed kid's arm and I quickly let go.

"Sorry!" I said. "Let me get a napkin-"

I was interrupted when the boy screamed. My eyes widened, wondering if he could have possibly hurt himself in the process of hitting into me.

Then he screamed again.

This time, I noticed it was not a scream of fear or pain. More like a scream of excitement.

"She has _cootie_ s!" He screamed, running away. Heads turned towards me and suddenly everyone was running away in glee, lunches forgotten and squeaky voices yelling. In the confusion, the first boy must have touched someone else because now the "cooties" had spread and everyone had forgotten about me, the infected growing and chasing other people. One girl, who must have been at least five, got hit down by accident, forgotten by the crowd. She broke into loud wailing, large tears slipping down her face.

I stood there in shock, the peanut butter sandwich still in my left hand and my right faintly dripping. The girl was still screeching, the sound mixed in with all the shouts and noises as teachers started to file in and try to calm everyone down.

Aiden, if I could see him, I assumed was putting the term "ROTFL" to literal use.

Earlier...earlier...did I say kids were adorable?

I was wrong.

They're evil, annoying, loud little brats.

If someone has an idea of how I'm going to survive in this class, please tell me.

Because, Aiden's a lost cause and I have no ideas whatsoever.


	7. Chapter 7

_I guess I could say I made my first "friend" today. Turns out the first one to approach me was the one who had woken me up when I fell asleep in class three days ago. June, was it?_

 _Well, at least she wasn't a little brat like the others. Honestly, this school is starting to piss me off. I've seen the security cameras in the classrooms, even in the bathrooms. I mean, I know it's a military base, but still. We're_ kids.

 _Whatever. Aiden is getting fidgety again so I best leave._

 _Contemplative,_  
 _H.N._

...

-Omake-

"What was your name?" I asked absentmindedly, opening one eye and peering at her. My head reclined as I leaned my back against the tree I was sitting underneath. A slight breeze blew by us, lifting my bangs to sway around my face and just more clearly define my bothered expression. She jolted as if surprised by the question then seemed to regain her composure.  
"J-June," She said, fiddling with her thumbs and looking up at me through long eyelashes underneath a curtain of white-blonde hair. Her oversized glasses threatened to fall off of her button nose yet again and she fumbled to correct them.

I took another bite of my sandwich, rolling my eyes at her antics. "Now come on, don't start with that. We already have a quiet enough person in this friendship." I pointed a small thumb towards myself. "We don't need another."

She sputtered. "B-but-" She paused right after, eyes widening. "Wait...friendship?"

"Yes, friendship," I clarified.

"I'm...I'm your friend?" She seemed to brighten, blue eyes sparkling.

If there was an image associated with "kawaii" in the dictionary, this would be it.

"You got a problem with that?" I said, narrowing my hazel orbs. She started frantically waving her hands around.

"N-No I-I-"

"Good," I interrupted, finishing my meal and crushing the paperbag between my hands. I sighed, getting to my feet and beginning to walk off. "Well, anyways, you'll have to prove yourself to me. I don't take the word "friend" lightly."

She floundered in the same spot for half a second then hastily caught up with me, nearly tripping over her own feet. "R-right! B-but why me? And where are w-we going?"

I tossed the crumpled garbage into a bin we passed boredly. "Well you, because you seem better than the other bra- kids here. And you have an over developed vocabulary for a kid your age it seems. Not to be condescending, but I don't think I could utterly handle to converse on a lower level than my speech right now."

My eyes slid over to hers only to see circles practically spinning in hers, her expression completely befuddled.

"W-wha?" She said, blinking cutely. Another gust of hot air exhaled from my lips, my eye twitching.

 _Too many big words, Haven._

"I like you," I said, cutting it short. "And we're going to class. It starts in another five minutes."

She was still caught up on the compliment I had given her in the first part of my sentence, pink dusting her cheeks. I paused to give her some time to snap out of it and she blinked rapidly.

"How do you know?" She asked finally.

My hand came up to lightly tap a finger against my temple. "Inward clock-" Another confused pursing of her lips. "-I just know, ok."

I turned once again, short brown locks following behind me as I redirected the course to the classroom. "Now come on, April."

"I'm coming-" She frowned slightly. "And it's June."

"That's what I said, July," I replied in a monotonous tone.

"But..." A lightbulb blinked above her head. "Y-you're saying other months on p-purpose!"

"No idea what you're talking about, May."

"H-hey!"

While she was fuming adorably behind me, I let a tiny smile pull up my lips.

 _Amusing._


	8. Chapter 8

\- Seven months in -

 _I had a nickname now apparently. "Sleepie Jodie" is the name, inspired from that incident months ago to my recent hobby of taking naps in the middle of class when my attention span ran low. I don't think most of my classmates even remember my real name anymore from all the months of calling me "Sleepie"._

 _Kids can be annoying I tell you._

 _They must've thought it'd probably rile me up at first when they started doing it, but I just mentally shrugged and owned up to it, taking naps at the most random of times. It had come to the point where I permanently had drooped eyelids and an I-don't-particularly-care-what-you-have-to-say blank expression._

 _Have to say, I think I had it perfected by now. Helped to repel anyone who tried to become "friends" with me. I know, I know, I probably sound super anti-social. But at this point, I came to realize that I didn't necessarily want to befriend anyone at this age, considering they were all sniveling little brats. Maybe when they were a bit older would I even consider it. It literally drained me when I had to converse with these chubby faced balls of sunshine. I mean-_

 _Oh who am I kidding. I'm totally anti-social. End of story._

 _Weirdly itchy,_  
 _H.N._

 _..._

I blinked, mouth forming a slight 'o' in surprise.

"Test?" I echoed, slightly interested.

"T-Test?" June said in a significantly more fearful tone than my curious one. I lifted my head from my arms, still a bit out of it due to the nap I had been taking. The teacher nodded.

"Yes, Jodie," He said then gave me the same look he'd been giving me for months - one mixed with irritation and disappointment. I had to make an effort not to let my lips fall into an already forming smirk. Half of the reason I allowed myself to become a lazy bum was because I enjoyed the heated reactions I plucked from Mr. Hottie- um, Mr. Crusaeti. It was amusing to play around with him, then hide underneath the guise of my supposed childlike innocence.

"Calm down," I found myself consoling my younger friend, my voice husky from sleep and a small palm coming up to hover above my mouth as I let out a yawn. "You're smart. I doubt you'll get a bad grade."

 _Besides, this is like, just the third grade,_ I wanted to add but decided to keep my thoughts to myself.

She drew in a breath as if to encourage herself then gave me a grateful smile. "Thanks, Jodie."

I unintentionally let a ghost of a smile slightly pass over my face. After months of lecturing her, she had finally lost that stutter when talking to me. She also wasn't as flinchy, and I found that surprisingly her personality matched mine. I almost couldn't believe this was the same girl who had her bangs basically covering her eyes and would be afraid to ask me questions four months back.

 _About time,_ I thought.

"Whatever, March."

"It's _June-_ "

Mr. Crusaeti cut us off from our normal theatrics when he set papers down on our desks, passing by us and pausing before he continued down the row.

"No more talking, you two. I would appreciate it."

"Yes sir," June said before sticking her tongue out at him once he turned his back. I smirked inwardly. _I taught this one well._

"And I very much appreciate your ass," I muttered, eyes trailing after him as my lips tilted upwards in a wry smirk once more. I had thought my words went unheard but I assumed I was wrong when June suddenly went an unhealthy shade of tomato.

 _Hmm,_ I mused. _I wonder if I threw an egg at her face if it would fry._

"J-Jodie!" She squeaked. I chuckled lowly.

"Yes?"

"Don't say adult stuff like that!" She said, giving me an intense reprimanding glare even though her face was still sporting a major blush. I reached over a hand to flick her ear that was tipped red. My normal stoic expression turned downright devious.

"And how exactly would you even know about such adult stuff?"

That shut her up as she started sputtering. I chuckled again and her eyebrow twitched.

"Why you-!"

"Jodie! June! I thought I told you to be quiet!"

"May, Mr. Crusaeti said to be quiet."

"I _heard_ him! And it's _June-!_ "

"JODIE! JUNE!"

...

I frowned, resting my cheek on a loose fist as I observed the words written before me.

 _This isn't right,_ I concluded. Though for me the test obviously wasn't difficult in any sense of the word, I hadn't expected to be the level it was. It seemed like they were teaching us material we shouldn't be learning for another grade or two or so. I pursed my lips, looking around briefly to see how many people had finished already. I had long ago completed the quiz, but I had to look as if I was normal. There was no way I was going to get looked upon as some kind of prodigy.

Who knows what they'd do with prodigies on a military base?

After a considerable amount of kids completed the assessment, I placed down my oversized pencil as well. Sweeping my eyes over the test once more, I made sure I got at least four or so problems wrong. When I was satisfied, I folded my arms onto the desk, and true to my name, immediately dropped my head and proceeded to conk out.

...

"Sleepie!"

My eyes croaked open, irritation springing up within me at the squeaky voice.

"Yes, insufferable bane?" My voice came out dead, not having enough energy to deal with who I knew was in front my desk. Even at this age, you could see the beginnings of bullies. Said "bully" and her lackies followed behind her.

"What did you say?" Meds said, her freckled cheeks complimenting the bright orange hair that was now slipping into her face. Her name obviously wasn't really Meds, (I think it was Elizabeth or something) but every time I saw her I felt as if she was definetly on steroids or something, as that was the only explanation for her behaviour. Hence the name.

I rolled my eyes, still a bit pissed from being awaken but in no mood to act upon it. Where was June, anyway?

"Bane," I spoke blandly, knowing she had no idea what it meant, or even the word 'insufferable'. My eyes flicked around the room, noticing it's empty state. Was the test over? I examined the space beneath my crossed hands where the test no longer was.

 _He must've taken it and let me sleep,_ I thought a bit fondly, the picture of the bell must've rung. Maybe June went home. "A scourge. An affliction. Anymore synonyms I should mention?"

My lips turned downwards at the prospect that June hadn't waited your me but I tried to brush off the stinge in my chest. Surely she had things to do. My lidded eyes drifted back to the little 'gang' still there. So they stayed behind a couple minutes just to tick me off? Man, kids really had no lives.

"Now you're just making stuff up," She insisted, pointing a finger at me. "You're really just _stupid!_ "

The two behind her cringed, eyes wide, as if she was saying a bad word. I nearly face-palmed. They probably thought it was. Before I opened my mouth, I sent a curious glance towards the third lackie that was usually with her. A little boy with black shaggy hair, his gaze as if he was in space. He usually didn't act up with her, or join in on any of their antics. He was just...there. I tucked the thought into the back of my mind for later and turned back to her.

"Have a nice day," I replied, grabbing my tiny bag and slinging it over my shoulder. I stood casually, letting out another yawn.

 _I'm acting a bit like Shikamaru,_ I chuckled lowly when I realized.

"Troublesome," I muttered just for effect and had to withhold the urge to burst into wheezing laughter. Instead, I just shot the flabbergasted group a small smile and turned, walking away. I could swear I had seen the boy send me a curious look just like I had done to him earlier but just shrugged it off.

After I made it out the door, I blinked when I saw a peek of blonde hair rush around the bend. A face peeped out, June holding onto the wall shyly while motioning for me to come.

' _Guess she didn't leave after all...'_

"What are you doing?" I asked when I reached, continuing to walk and causing her to stumble a bit to join my pace.

"I'm sorry I didn't back you up!" June was almost crying, the ends of her hair in a disarray. "I was going to wake you up but then that girl and the others scared me and ran me out." She seemed ashamed to even be saying it but was snuffing up her nose now, looking to be trying her best not to cry. "I was waiting on you to come but ended up watching them pick on you from the window!"

"It's ok," I cut in before she could rant on any further, inspecting her genuine regret. While I was a little bothered by the fact that she made me think she had left, I couldn't blame her. She really was just a scared little girl. "You don't need to say sorry. I don't really care."

"Hmmph," She said, seeming to be at a loss for words. Then her face visibly brightened as she seemed to remember something. "But Jodie! I can't believe you stood up to her like that! She's such a meanie but you just -" She fumbled on the words. "I forgot the phrase, my daddy used it the other day...Batted...brushed..."

"Brushed her off?" I offered, finding the "older" girl utterly amusing.

"Yeah!" She said, grinning. Here she was sad a minute ago and now she's shining like a star. Kids and their moods.

"Of course I did," I smirked. I finally opened my eyes fully from their bored and lidded state, turning my head to make rigid eye contact with her. "A piece of advice - people like her aren't worth your time."

She seemed jarred at my sudden serious stare but nodded firmly, her chubby face set in such a determined expression I nearly peed my pants with laughter. I swear she almost saluted. "I see!"

I just shook my head, turning back. "Well don't forget it June."

"It's Ju-" She stopped herself, blinking. "Wait. You actually said my name that time!"

I just gave her an unimpressed look. "What are you talking about, August?"

"But-"

"I think I see your dad waving over there by your car. You should go, April."

"It's _JUNE!"_

I walked away with my left hand in my pocket and my right waving bye in the air without even looking back. I let a tiny smirk pull up my lips when I felt the waves of amusement rolling off Aiden as I saw Jodie's father's car entering the gate in the distance.

"Something funny Aiden?"


	9. Chapter 9

\- Eleven months in -

 _It's strange how one can become homesick almost a year after their arrival in a different world. I mean of course I had missed my home before but not like this..._

 _Not like this._

 _When I had woken up today, I just had this weird sense of loss. Everything hit me at once I suppose. Was it really 1996? Was I really in a new body? Or was I somewhere back home in a hospital, lying in a bed in a coma?_

 _Heh. Winter just passed by the way. It was a temperature colder than I had ever been in. Got the flu and everything. Apparently it was the warmest winter they ever had. 38° degrees is warm? Huh. Just another thing different in this life I suppose. Another thing I'll have to get used to. My brother would have loved this weather now that I think of it. Mom would have been dying. And dad...aha! I can just imagine him all bundled up. Ha..! Them...my family..._

 _Ha._

 _H.N._

...

When Jodie's mom shook me for school that morning, it was the second time I had awoken since night.

The first time I had woke was probably around midnight. It was strange, a sudden rush of panic that struck my senses and jerked me out of my subconscious. My eyes opened immediately, blinking rapidly.

"Aiden?" I whispered, voice clogged and a bit husky from sleep. Panic. I had never felt that emotion from him before. Malice maybe. Amusement many times. But never...fear?

There was no comforting relay of reassurance across the bond that he usually sent. No sign that he even heard me. Just silence. Now of course Aiden had never spoke in the first place, but this silence was different. If not for the slight tug of the bond I could always feel in the back of my mind, I would have thought he was gone.  
In a long time, I felt what it was to be normal. Just a regular human being with no entity attached to me - how I had been in my past life.

And for some unknown reason, it scared the living daylights out of me.

"Aiden?!" I more whisper-shouted that time but still didn't receive an answer. I narrowed my eyes, trying to ignore the panic that was rising within me. The anger I had replaced it with wasn't working, faltering because it had no plausible roots to spring from. My hands clenched the sheets. He wasn't gone right? There was no way. I could still feel him. _He couldn't be gone right?_

"Aiden?" This time it was almost choked out and for the life of me I couldn't understand why I was so afraid of the concept of him not being by my side. " _Aiden?_ "

A pressure stroked down my head, warm and yet barely there.  
The worry deflated from my chest in a sigh.

"You idiot," I said, bringing a palm up to press into my forehead. I laughed with no amusement, trying and failing to hold back the tears that had been about to blur my vision. "What happened?"

Silence again. The pressure strengthened a bit, pushing my head back onto the pillow. I sighed again.

"You want me to sleep after what you just did?"

More silence.

"Fine," I spat out, tucking my head into the pillow and bringing the sheets up. Ignoring the wet spots on the pillow underneath my eyes I forced myself back into slumber.

...

"Jodie?" My head jolted up from staring down at the bowl of porridge I had been mindlessly stirring my spoon in. I glanced at Jodie's mom, blinking to try and clear away the memory.

"Yes?"

"Are you ok?" She asked. Even Phillip was giving me a curious look, eyes glancing over the edge of the newspaper.

"I'm fine," I managed to say. My small hands pushed the bowl away. "I'm just not hungry."

She frowned. "Did something happen?"

Yes. "No."

She just rose an eyebrow and gave me the 'I know you're lying but I'll let it pass this once' look. Huh. I used to think it was just my mom that could pull that off but I guess it was a mom thing internationally.

"If you say so," Susan sighed dramatically, getting up and heading to the kitchen. She cut the sandwich she had been nibbling on in half, wrapping the half that wasn't bitten into in foil paper.

 _Even the foil paper looks old,_ I thought. Weird how there was such a difference in technology between the 20th and 21st century I had grown up in.

"What are you doing?" I asked in my quiet voice, jumping off the chair to go get my bag.

"Catch," She said. I turned around just in time to prevent the wrapped sandwich from slapping me in the face.

"In case you change your mind and get hungry," She smiled and I swore the sun just shone into the room.

Agh. It was so hard to not like this lady.

I looked away, afraid I'd be blinded by the sincerity.

"Thank you," I gave my own gummy smile, my eyes boring holes into the ground. Hopefully she didn't notice.

In the car I half listened to Jodie's dad rambling about the importance of seatbelts and half stared out the window.

Last night. Just what was that? What had caused Aiden to respond so negatively? I bit down on my lip, my teeth dragging the flesh into my mouth. More importantly, why had I reacted the way I did?

The thought of Aiden not being with me sent goosebumps up my neck and had perspiration gathering beneath my armpits. Why? _Why?_ Had I really become that attached to him in such a small amount of time? Sure, this body - Jodie - must have known him before I showed up. So if course I was physically rejecting his departure. But it was more than that I could tell. I was just trying to be in denial and it wasn't working.

Aiden was the first thing I had encountered in this life. Yes, I had technically seen Jodie's parents first but they weren't Aiden. Aiden almost killed me a week after I arrived, demanding to know where his real sister was. He introduced me to the real meaning of fear a second time - the first time being when I ad died. Aiden eventually made up with and tolerated me. Regretful tolerance became forgiveness. Forgiveness became affection. Aiden was always with me. Aiden had made my sudden drop into this world less jarring, as if he were a pillow. He distracted me. He played with me childishly. He made it fun to be a kid again. He saw me at my worse, was with me when I went to sleep, when I woke. For Pete's sake he even was there when I was naked and in the shower! I didn't realize how much I needed him. If he wasn't there and it was just me and Jodie's parents and a military base, I would have probably lost it a long time ago.

What would I do if one day he really did disappear?

I stretched across the tethered bond, sending a wordless question. Desperation clung to it but I had to know what had happened this morning. I needed to know...so that the next time it happened my heart didn't lurch out if my chest.

Only silence responded.


	10. Chapter 10

**Special thanks to DarkDust27 for remaining a faithful reviewer.**

\- Eleven months in -

 _It's gotten worse._ _He's become even quieter._ _At first I didn't notice. And even if I did I didn't care much. After all, he and I weren't exactly 'talking' at the moment after that stunt he'd pulled on me last week. But then the affectionate caresses paused, the friendly taps ceased, the mischievous jolts thinned out. He reclused into himself, and only silence echoed between our souls. He was...it was almost like he was..._ tired.

 _But tired of what? What was he hiding? Whatever it was I wasn't having it any longer._ _At nights Aiden got even more strange. He would force me to bed, even when I didn't want to. One time I dared to question why and keep myself up but the last thing I remembered was a pressure enclosing my head and pressing down on my temples before I was waking up to bright daylight._

 _The bastard had forced me unconscious!_

 _But I'd let it go on too long._ _Tonight I was going to get some answers whether he liked it or not._

 _Determined,_

 _H.N._

 _..._

"No."

A pause in the normal routine, then confusion.

 _What?_ I could almost hear his voice.

"I said no," I narrowed my eyes at empty air, setting my lips in a firm, tight line. "Not this time, Aiden."

The confusion slowly trickled to shock, then anger. The pressure increased against my body, filtering into my skin, shoving down on my bones.

But through the ever growing frustration I could sense a tiny, flickering spark of desperation he was frantically trying to keep hidden. If anything, that only made me more determined.

That was the thing about the bond. An open door can be entered both ways.

"If you force me to sleep I will never trust you again."

The force cut off into a silence, and the sensation hesitated, as if fighting itself, before finally lifting.

"Not this time, Aiden," I stressed once more, a boulder in my decision. "I won't comply and go to sleep this time. I won't wake up only to find you distancing yourself from me anymore. I won't watch you, feel you get even more exhausted."

A mixture of feelings were coursing through me from the spirit, so quick and changing I couldn't filter through them.

I relaxed my clenched jaw line just a little bit, if only a little, to give him what I hoped was a genuine smile and not a grimace.

"You are not alone Aiden. I'm here. Whatever this is, we'll get through it together."

(Well wasn't that the most ironic thing ever, the situations seemed to have switched.)

More silence.

My will wavered, and just as I was beginning to wonder if my words had been in utter vain, my whole world shook.

A warm feeling rushed through me, coursing hot, liquid fire from the top of my head all the way to my tips of my fingers. I was reminded of several things at once. The heat of the sun on my face as I lay in the grass. The smell of vanilla tea, staining the back of my tongue with cream, squeezing into every crevice to exfoliate it's heavenly herbal scent. The sensation of my mother's fingers threading through my hair, a whisper of the softest lullaby in my ears.

Love.

I felt pure, unadulterated _love._

Oh dear Jesus what am I getting myself into?

For a second I couldn't speak, overwhelmed by what I had just witnessed.

My throat was clogged, tongue like a dead weight at the bottom of my jaw.

Aiden.

 _Oh **god** Aiden._

My lips trembled and before I could come up with a reply, the room suddenly grew colder. The moment shattered as an ominous atmosphere settled over everything and I instinctively went rigid.

At this point I would've normally been long asleep. But I wasn't, not this time.

"A-Aiden?" My voice shook even when I tried not to. "What is-"

Red eyes.

Crimson orbs peering from a shroud of black, piercing deep into my soul.

The creature, no, the _thing_ had a claw hooked onto my sheets, looking over the bottom of my mattress with those swirling wine coloured eyes that I couldn't tear my own away from. It was creeping from under my bed like a fabled monster from a children's fairytale, coming to gobble me up or burst out of the closet if I didn't keep it locked tight and my nightlight shining bright.

If there was a face to evil, that would be it.

Except this wasn't a fairytale, I _was_ actually a frightened little child, and no knight in shining armor was going to come and save me. The creature continued to stare, wisps of its cloud of void almost evaporating into the air. The malice radiating from its form only had me more certain this wasn't something to play with.

Aiden shifted across the bond, obviously scared, but ready to help with a ferocity that rivaled my own. At this I was knocked out of my fear induced state, collecting my thoughts.

 _Together,_ I remembered my own words. _Together._

"Hey you," I started, swallowing a cold ball of mucus down the back of my throat. "Didn't you see I'm trying to get some beauty sleep here? You're not really helping."

The creature only slowly ascended themselves, a claw going further up on the bed and brushing against my feet. I could only watch in morbid fascination as it relocated to the skin above my ankle, as if in slow motion.

Then proceeded to drag down.

A muffled scream escaped my mouth as I yanked my foot back, knowing there were now festering shallow claw marks in the ripped, pink flesh.

The anger outweighed the fear, bringing a sharp clarification to my foggy mind as I clenched my fists.

"Leave," I spoke in a low tone. "Leave. You're not welcome here. I don't know what you are, but you made Aiden scared and that is unacceptable."

The eyes shone bright in the dark, seeming to pull through me string by string.

"I said leave!"

A warm cocoon infront of me, and I could feel Aiden there, as if standing with his arms spread out, ready to protect.

The creature hissed, loud and keening, before disappearing into mist, there one second, and then gone.

My heart was pounding, and now that the threat was gone I could feel all my rebound emotions flow back into me. What was I doing? Where in the world had that courage come from?

The clock ticked in the corner slowly.

I let out a hot sigh through my teeth, giving a little chuckle.

"That wasn't so bad was it?"

Aiden was silent, as if shocked at my response.

There was another moment of tension before sudden ticklish waves ran up my sides, shoving me into the sheets.

"Woah!"

He didn't let up.

"Alright I'm sorry! Uncle! _Uncle!_ "

I knew what we were really doing. Disguising fear with humor, burying the uncertainty with childish play.

But as we continued to horse around, I felt a burst of relief. Aiden was back. He'd finally regained himself. He was back.

If only I'd known that today was the first time out if many I'd come into contact with other entities. That today marked the start of a domino effect that wouldn't stop for another fifteen years. Then maybe I would have been more cautious, maybe I wouldn't have been so quick to dash away the uncomfortable.

Aiden slapped a pillow to my stomach.


End file.
